10 Laundry Disasters and How To Help Clothes Recover

Once a stain has been dried, it’s very hard to remove, but it is possible. Try repeating the steps for the individual stain. More than likely you’ll need to soak the stain, or use a more aggressive stain remover. On white clothes, try using lemon juice and placing the garment in the sun. Both the lemon juice and the sun will work as bleaching agents. Be sure to rinse the clothing thoroughly before rewashing.

Stain Resources

Stain Removal Tools and Techniques
Best Laundry Stain Removers

3. Dingy Whites.

White fabrics can become yellowed or grayed and dingy. For gray and dingy whites try the triple soak. Soak the whites first in a solution of a bucketful of water and 2 tablespoons of liquid dish soap. Next rinse out the whites and soak in a solution of 2 tablespoons of ammonia and a bucketful of water. Next, rinse out the whites, and soak in a bucket of warm water and 2 tablespoons of vinegar. Rinse thoroughly and dry. This soaking method will leave your whites bright and clean.

Handwashing Resources

Video: How To Handwash Clothes

4. Wrinkled Clothes.

If clothes have been neglected in the dryer for too long they are probably wrinkled. To smooth out the wrinkles, put the load back in the dryer with a damp towel (for a medium sized load) or a damp sock (for a small load).

Ironing Resources

7 Ironing Mistakes
How To Iron Pleats
Video:Ironing Shirts and Pants
Video:Ironing Skirts and Blouses

5. Pink Whites.

A red sock in the washer with your whites can leave you seeing rose-colored laundry. To try to fix this problem you’ll need Rit Color Remover. This product works wonders on white laundry that had dye transfer on it. The Rit Color Remover can also be effective at removing dye on some colored or patterned backgrounds, although you run the risk of having the original color or pattern of the garment damaged.

Color Resources

8 Tips To Prevent Color Fading
Color Remover Definition

6. Crayons in the Dryer.

I’ve got quite a bit of experience with this one. I’ll never forget the first time I looked in the dryer to see streaks of red crayon melted around the drum. To get rid of it, start with scraping off as much of the wax as you can. I like using a credit card because it doesn’t scratch the drum, but does a good job of removing dried on wax. Depending on how tough the wax is to remove, you might need to use a blow dryer to remove the wax. Hold the dryer 6 inches away from the drum. It will heat up the wax, allowing you to wipe it away. Next, you’ll need some WD-40. Spray it on a cloth and wipe at the waxed areas until the wax is gone. For your final step, use a mild detergent like dish soap or an all-purpose cleaner and warm water to do a final wipe down of the drum.

Crayon Resources

Crayon Stains on Clothing
Combination Based Stains

7. Stickers Washed and Dried.

Sometimes a “Good Job�?sticker gets left on clothes as they go through the laundry cycle. A sticker that has been washed and dried, congeals and becomes very difficult to remove. Use an ice cube to freeze the stained area, and try to scrape away as much of the sticker as possible with a spoon. Apply baby or cooking oil to the sticker area and try to scrape away more of the stain as it loosens. Rinse the area thoroughly with a little dish soap and warm water before applying a stain remover gel and rewashing.

Sticker Resources

Glue, Adhesive, and Sticker Stains

8. Mildew Smells or Stains.

Did you forget about the clothes in the washer and now they have a sour smell? If the clothes smell, but aren’t stained by pinpoint sized dots of mildew, you may simply be able to rewash them with a helping of bleach for whites, or color-safe bleach for colors. If you indeed have mildew stains, washing with chlorine bleach will remove the stains from white clothing. For colored clothing use a mixture of color-safe oxygen bleach (1 teaspoon) , and hydrogen peroxide (1 cup) to sponge the stained areas before rinsing thoroughly and rewashing. Clothes may also benefit from soaking in a borax solution.

Bleaching Resources

Bleaching Tips
Definition and Types of Bleach

9. A Pen Explodes.

If a pen found its way into your laundry, it can wreak a lot of havoc before it’s found. Whether you realize there are ink stains after clothes are washed, or after they are dried, the steps are the same.

The first solution to try is rubbing alcohol. Place the clothing on top of a clean white towel. Be sure to test in a hidden spot before applying rubbing alcohol to the permanent ink stain. Blot rubbing alcohol onto the stain. The towel underneath will become wet and discolored from the ink. Be sure to move the garment to a clean dry section of the towel as this happens. Continue until no more ink stain can be removed. Make sure you rinse the stained area completely free of the rubbing alcohol. Next try fingernail polish remover. Blot in the same way as you did with the rubbing alcohol, moving the stained area to a clean dry section of a towel as the ink stain is removed. Rinse thoroughly.

Honestly, this will work much more effectively if the clothes haven’t been dried, but it can still work on set in stains, it will just take a lot of hoping and patience.

Ink Resources

Ink Types and Stain Removal
Dye Stains

10. Washed Tissues.

If a tissue has been inadvertently washed, leaving shreds of tissue all over your clothing, the easiest solution is to pick out the biggest clumps you can see before putting the clothing in the dryer. The smaller clumps will get caught in the lint filter where you can remove them after the drying cycle. The more clumps you can remove before the clothing goes into the dryer, the better. Once the clothing is dry, shake out the garments to remove any loose pieces.